University of Helsinki, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, yleislääketiede ja perusterveydenhuolto

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Immonen, Sirpa

fi

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2012-11-23T11:02:37Z

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2012-12-04

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dc.date.available

2012-11-23T11:02:37Z

dc.date.issued

2012-12-14

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URN:ISBN:978-952-10-8522-2

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http://hdl.handle.net/10138/37625

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Alcohol use plays a part in the life of older adults, and can be assumed to be increasingly prominent in the future as the baby boomers age. Understanding alcohol consumption patterns and factors associated with risky drinking in the general population of older adults aids in detecting older adults who may suffer from the hazardous use of alcohol or alcohol use disorders.
The present study assessed some issues in alcohol consumption among older adults: the prevalence of consumption and associated factors, older adults own reasoning for their alcohol consumption, the drinking of alcohol for medicinal purposes, and potentially inappropriate drug alcohol interactions.
The data were gathered using a postal questionnaire sent to a stratified random sample of older adults aged ≥65 years in the City of Espoo. The number of respondents was 1 395 (71.6%). The mean age was 78 years and 62.7% were women. The guidelines of the American Geriatrics Society were used to define the at-risk drinking limits.
The prevalence of alcohol consumption was 71.5% and at-risk drinking was estimated to be 10.8%; 20.6% among older men and 4.2% among women. At-risk alcohol consumption was more common in the youngest age groups and among men; 25.4% of men and 7.7% of women aged 65 70 years exceeded the at-risk drinking limit. Although the frequency and quantity of alcohol use declined with age, 18.9% of males aged 71 80 years and 11.3% aged 81 90 years exceeded the at-risk drinking limit. The corresponding figures among females were 2.5% and 1.4%.
The respondents most common reasons for drinking were for having fun, celebration (58.7%), and for social reasons (54.2%). Of the respondents, the younger age groups reported more often than the older age groups that they used alcohol for having fun, celebration, and for social reasons . The proportion reporting drinking alcohol for medicinal purposes increased with age. Alcohol was consumed with meals in all age groups, although this was more common in younger age groups. A larger proportion of the at-risk users than the moderate users indicated that they were using alcohol because of meaningless life, in relieving anxiety, relieving loneliness, and relieving depression , as a pastime and because everybody uses it .
The medicinal consumption of alcohol was more common in the oldest age group. Both genders used this self-medication equally. The most common conditions for which alcohol was used as a medicine were cardiovascular diseases, sleep disturbances, a common cold and indigestion.
The concomitant use of drugs that have potential interactions with alcohol was common. Of the drug users, 62.2% also used alcohol. Among the at-risk users and moderate users , 42.2% and 34.9% were on drugs potentially causing significant interactions with alcohol.